In 1998 the Charleville School of Distance Education (SDE) in Queensland, Australia, began using telephone teaching to replace high frequency radio as its means of communicating with rural and remote students. A study investigated the extent to which telephone teaching has contributed to the development of a constructivist teaching and learning…

The Alaska Family Practice Residency (AFPR) is a graduate medical education training program for family physicians headed for rural and remote practice sites. Located in Anchorage and affiliated with the University of Washington family practice residency network, the program has an integrated curriculum aimed at preparing family physicians to…

This conference proceedings of the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) contains 19 presentations and workshops. An introductory section includes SPERA's mission, goals, and history; a brief welcome address by SPERA president Sheila King; a list of past conference proceedings; and abstracts of presentations. The…

Students in nursing, allied health, social work, and medicine at the University of Maryland are offered clinical experiences on Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay. The program exposes them to the special health care needs and problems of an isolated, economically disadvantaged, rural community. (SK)

Presents results from ethnographic fieldwork regarding a program to develop telematically delivered distance learning packages in Britain. Describes aims of the program, including building an infrastructure for distance learning and community development, to provide training software, and to identify limitations of attempts to break down economic…

Interviews with service providers and welfare recipients on 15 Arizona American Indian reservations indicated that low levels of education and work experience were barriers to employment, and employment was scarce. In remote areas, the lack of support services, paved roads, transportation, and communication made it impossible for many residents to…

In remote Bristol Bay (Alaska), award-winning librarian Tiki Levinson built a library program that inspired students to read and teachers to embrace new resources for their classrooms. She recommends new books and Web sites to students and teachers and searches avidly for new resources that might pique a child's interest or meet a teacher's needs.…

A resource manual on cardiac rehabilitation education was developed for health workers providing patient education in rural and remote Queensland (Australia). A process evaluation of the manual received feedback from 5 key informants and 31 rural health care workers following a 3-month trial. Overall, feedback was positive. Recommended content…

Describes a study that examined the professional information needs of rural secondary school teachers in New South Wales (Australia). Concludes that teacher librarians have a pivotal role in meeting information needs, and that computer networks provide a means of overcoming the teachers' professional and geographical isolation. (LRW)

A study of rural Queensland (Australia) parents' views of their children's involvement in physical activity interviewed parents who taught their children at home using distance education. Physical activity was encouraged, but not formally taught; health was linked more to nutrition than exercise; and lack of participation in team games was…

In an isolated, northern Canadian, Indigenous community, interviews were conducted with family and community members connected to a young deaf boy, who finally was sent away to a residential school. Findings highlight the lack of culturally relevant services in northern communities, prevalence of otitis media and hearing loss in Native children,…

A national survey of 130 single-campus, K-12 public schools enrolling fewer than 300 students revealed that half of the schools reported implementing some type of distance learning program, that satellite-based programs were the technology of choice, and that the mean dollars expended for distance learning ranged between $6,838 and $19,335. (LP)

Examines some reasons why not all students are afforded equal opportunities to acquire technology skills. Identifies three main impediments to technological equalization: gender bias, geographic and socio-economic biases, and racial bias. Attempts to show how these biases work to prevent students from receiving equal opportunities to master…

Small populations and remoteness are the most salient features of low-wage counties. These locational attributes coincide with fewer high-wage jobs, yet low wages within industries define low-wage counties more than industry composition. Although adults in low-wage counties have less education and labor force participation overall, the role played…

Outlines the policy framework for vocational education and training (VET) in New South Wales (Australia), provision of VET through distance education to isolated learners and students in small rural schools, issues related to the child-to-adult transition of isolated students, and the varying educational needs of students following five different…